Growth in tourist numbers set to continue

THE number of tourists arriving here next year is expected to reach 7.7 million, according to forecasts from Tourism Ireland.

Launching the 2004 tourism marketing strategy yesterday, Tourism Ireland said it was expecting to see the strong growth in visitor numbers this year continuing in 2004. It said based on current estimates, there would be a 4.5% rise in tourists coming here this year and a 4.4% rise next year.

The body said it would be pumping 31 million into marketing Ireland abroad and would increase its campaigns in our key markets.

Next year, Tourism Ireland says it will focus the bulk of its resources on Britain our largest market the US, France and Germany, which represented 83% of the total visitor numbers in 2002 and which performed strongly again this year. It is forecasting the British market will grow by 3.5%; mainland Europe by 5.8% and North America by 6.6% in 2004.

Tourism Ireland chief executive Paul O'Toole says that though the number of visitors to Ireland has risen this year, there were still issues for the tourism and leisure industries to address. He said many in the sector had seen lower profits from shorter visits, increased hotel capacity and global competition.

Mr O'Toole added that the industry will have to work hard to ensure that visitors are not ripped off when they come here. "What overseas visitors are saying to us is the cost of getting here by sea and air are reasonable. What they are also finding is costs on the ground are dearer than expected. The corollary to that is more than 90% of tourists are positive about their visit and would recommend Ireland to friends. Not only do we have to provide a good and efficient and attractive product, but we have to ensure value for money."

Tourism Ireland also sees a recovery in the number of American visitors, which peaked in 2000 at close to 1m, but has fallen back over the last two years.

"We have returned to growth and are on recovery and this year, unlike many of our European competitors, visitor numbers are expected to grow."

The World Tourism Organisation sees no growth in visitor numbers internationally, making Ireland's performance exceptional, and Mr O'Toole believes the targets for next year can be met.

"We are confident our targets are achievable. We are subject to further shocks from international events, but with any sort of incident we are optimistic for 2004."

Tourism Minister John O'Donoghue said investment in support of tourism next year will be over 110m, of which almost 70m will be spent in support of the marketing and promotion activities of the two agencies.

"This is both a reflection of the importance attached to marketing as a driver of growth and a strong endorsement of the performance of the two agencies in delivering value for this Exchequer investment."